


The Bachelor

by camichats



Series: Imagine James and Sirius Prompts [184]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Alternate Universe - Reality Show, Getting Back Together, Indian James Potter, M/M, Past Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:22:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27635387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/camichats/pseuds/camichats
Summary: Sirius didn't really like working on this show, but this season, James is The Bachelor, so maybe it wouldn't be too bad.
Relationships: Sirius Black/James Potter
Series: Imagine James and Sirius Prompts [184]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/752925
Comments: 10
Kudos: 64





	The Bachelor

**Author's Note:**

> For the prompt: “A, The Bachelor AU please?”

Sirius hated this show. He really, truly did. A whole bunch of desperate women who'd been told they were worthless for half their lives felt pressured into auditioning because they were the scandalous age of twenty-four and not yet married. And then there were the bloody men that signed on, looking forward to free dates and sex (in the later episodes) without having to do any of the legwork of actually finding dates. 

That being said, Sirius wasn't so secure in his finances that he could afford to quit. As part of the crew, he had all his expenses paid for for the duration of the season, and a hefty check to go home with. If he thought that he could get work somewhere else, he would. He'd applied and been rejected more times than he could count, and the longer he worked on The Bachelor, the harder it was for non-reality shows to consider him. He'd only gotten onto _this_ show because Remus had already been working on it. To be fair to Remus, he'd warned Sirius that it was horrible from the very beginning, but the bills had started piling up and being a waiter just wasn't cutting it. 

While he was working, he kept his mind on the framing of the shot and not anything that was happening inside of it. It was only when the work was done for the day that he let himself complain, even in his head. 

He was so used to ignoring all of the people that appeared in front of the camera that he almost tripped over his feet when he saw who the Bachelor this season was. Bloody gorgeous was the only phrase coming to mind, and he couldn't get his brain to work past that. All the past Bachelors that Sirius had met looked basically the same. White skin, light brown hair, vague five o'clock shadow, and a smile that looked like it had been purchased directly from a dentist's advert. They were never really skin or really buff, just somewhere in the middle, but not so much in the middle that they'd be considered out of shape; it was so much _nothing_ that it drove Sirius up the bloody wall. 

This guy though, he looked nothing like the others. He could've been plucked directly from Sirius's imagination. He reminded Sirius a lot of James, his boyfriend from secondary school. They'd broken up when James went back to India for uni, and he hadn't heard from him since. 

Sirius cocked his head, then gaped. That _was_ James. What the sodding hell was he doing here? "James?" he blurted. 

James looked over when he heard his name, then grinned. It still made Sirius's heart stutter in his chest. "Sirius? Bugger, it's good to see you." He hugged him, and Sirius hugged him back automatically. He felt the same way in Sirius's arms as he remembered, even though they were both older. 

"What the hell are you doing here? I didn't think this sort of show was your thing." 

James's mouth twisted. "I lost a bet. In my defense, I never thought they'd actually accept me. Lily couldn't stop laughing when I got the news." 

"You still talk to Lily?" 

"Well, she ended up at the same uni as me, so it was easy. Plus she didn't speak any Hindi when she first got there, so she kind of needed someone to help translate." James gave a helpless shrug. "I tried to look you up, but you weren't talking to your parents anymore, so." 

"Yeah." He hadn't _wanted_ to be easy to find, but that was because of his family, not anything to do with long lost friends. He didn't feel like explaining that, but James probably knew it anyways. "So if you don't want to be here for the usual reasons, what are you planning on doing?" 

James shrugged again, looking supremely uncomfortable. "I dunno. When it gets to the end, I guess I could just not give a rose to either of them and that would work, right?" 

"Not sure," Sirius admitted. There was a formula to how the show was supposed to go, but they broke the rules every once in a while if they thought it made it more interesting. "They might have you fake it just to have a finale," he said, because they'd done shite like that before. 

"Really? They'd do that?" 

"It's a scripted show, mate." 

"Great," James said flatly. "I'm really looking forward to this." 

"Kinda sounds like you shouldn't have lost the bet." 

"Shouldn't you be on my side?" James asked. 

"How would that be funny?" 

James snorted, then made a disgusted face when someone called his name. "See you later?" he asked hopefully, taking slow steps backwards so they knew he'd heard them. 

"Definitely." 

James grinned before leaving, and it lit up his entire face. 

Sirius's heart ached for a moment. Good to know that he was still in love with James even though it had been years. Their break up had been sad, but inevitable. James had known where he was going to uni since before they'd even met (let alone started dating), and it would've been stupid for him to have changed his plans for Sirius. Even if he'd offered to stay, Sirius would've insisted that he go. Maybe, since James wasn't here for the relationship promised at the end of the show, Sirius could see if he was interested in getting back together. 

"Was that James?" Remus asked, and Sirius jumped; he'd been so caught up in his own thoughts that he hadn't heard him coming. 

"Yeah," Sirius said. 

Remus kindly did not mention that he'd surprised him. "Huh. I didn't know he was back in the country. I talked to Lily last week and she didn't mention it. What's he doing here? You back together?" 

"Not yet," Sirius said automatically, then had to correct himself. "I mean, I have to ask him if he's still interested. He's not here for me." 

"Then what's he doing here?" 

"He's this season's bachelor. He lost a bet," Sirius said, preempting the next question. 

"Fucking hell," Remus muttered. "This'll be interesting." 

* * *

James showed up at Sirius's door-- Sirius didn't have to ask to know that Remus had told him which room he was in-- that night when shooting was done. "That was _miserable_." 

"I'll only get worse," Sirius warned. "After they start pretending to actually like you, they get more catty." 

"What makes you think they won't like me? I'm a damn catch." 

Sirius snorted, shoving at his shoulder. 

James caught his hand before he could pull away. Their eyes met. And held. 

_Mark that down as definitely still interested,_ Sirius thought to himself, somewhat giddily. Neither of them said anything, but sometimes they didn't need to. This was how it had all started for them at Hogwarts. They'd had to reassure each other after a while that yes they fancied each other and wanted to date, but that initial interest had been easy to spot-- and it was the same now as it had been then. 

"I really missed you," James whispered. 

"I missed you too. Kinda sucked not being able to talk to you." 

"Yeah," James said with a crooked smile. He let go of Sirius's hand and turned to face him a little more fully. "Look, I know it's... been a while, and maybe you're dating someone else-" 

"I'm not." 

"Good to hear," James said, fondness seeping into his expression. "I know the timing's utter shite-- with the show and everything-- but I'd like to give us another try. I mean, we were _good_ together. Really good." 

"We were," Sirius agreed, smiling at him return. "How about this. We work on the show in the day, and at night, we just... do this. Talk. Catch up. If we're both still interested when filming's done, then we can talk about where we go from there." 

"Should I start working on my talking points now or?" 

Sirius snorted. He'd missed this. 

* * *

As it turned out, the producers opted to let James choose neither of the finalists because they had enough footage to make up the drama elsewhere. James was unspeakably relieved about that, and if he was honest, Sirius was happy about it too; he knew that it wouldn't have meant anything if James had had to pretend to choose one of the contestants, but it was nice all the same. 

Because James was an absolute sap, when he went to Sirius that night, he brought him a red rose. He even had a little smile on his face like he knew _exactly_ how corny it was and loved it for that very reason. "Do you accept this rose?" James asked. 

"You're so buggering stupid," Sirius said, the words not near enough to hide the blush on his face. 

"That's not the line." 

"I'm making it one," Sirius said. He snatched the rose from James and pulled him into a kiss. 

**Author's Note:**

> This is from a prompt driven blog @[imaginejamesandsirius](https://imaginejamesandsirius.tumblr.com) on tumblr. Feel free to drop by!


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